Flashback
by Sarah1281
Summary: Rory, Amy, and the Doctor go back to Space Florida and who should they meet but Rose and Mickey, temporarily separated from their Doctor? Oh, this is SUCh a bad idea but Amy just can't leave well enough alone. Time for an impromptu reunion.


Flashback

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who.

"You know that I don't like repeats," the Doctor complained as he followed along behind Amy and Rory on one of the beaches of Space Florida.

"I'm sorry, _how_ many times did you say you watched the moon landing?" Amy asked innocently.

"That's different!" the Doctor protested. "It's the _moon landing_. That's one of the most brilliant moments in human history!"

"And this is just a place on a completely different day and you insist on going to London all the time," Amy pointed out.

"But exciting things happen in London," the Doctor protested. "Nothing ever happens in Space Florida so there's nothing new about going."

"I thought you said that when you went there was a sand shark," Rory spoke up.

"Well…yeah," the Doctor admitted. "But what are the odds that that'll happen again? And even if it does, that will _still_ make it a repeat."

"It won't be a repeat for Rory because he was dead and didn't exist when we went," Amy pointed out.

"Don't forget in a completely different universe," Rory added.

Amy snapped her fingers. "That's right! That reminds me…Doctor, how much of what we did before rebooting the universe really happened? I mean, all of my memories are completely different but how much of our adventures? We never would have been able to stop the Weeping Angels without that crack but once we fixed the universe there _was_ no crack so…"

"Don't think about it too hard," the Doctor advised. "It's all timey-wimey anyway."

"I guess so," Amy said reluctantly. "I doubt I'll ever get an answer. You know, River seemed to remember what happened with the Pandorica even though that led to the rebooting of the universe and she showed up at our wedding even though you didn't exist."

"River Song is even more likely to make your head explode," the Doctor said seriously. "Don't give her that power over you, Amy."

"Hey, is that…" Amy trailed off, spotting something. "It _is_! Let's go say hello!" She took off.

"What is she looking at?" Rory asked, puzzled.

"Oh, no," the Doctor said, paling. "We shouldn't be here. We _really_ shouldn't be here. I definitely don't remember this."

Rory stopped for a moment. "Are you saying that Amy's running off to go meet a past version of you?"

"Basically, yes," the Doctor agreed. "Come on."

They raced after Amy to see her chatting excitedly to a young blonde woman and a black man.

"I know this sounds strange, but I know you! Well, not exactly. I don't even know your name. I have seen your picture however, when I tricked the Doctor into having the TARDIS show me a picture of all of his former companions. You were actually there twice," Amy was saying. She turned to the man. "I don't recall seeing you, though. And I've seen pictures of the past Doctors so I know you can't be him."

"I'm Mickey," Mickey introduced. "Mickey Smith. This is Rose Tyler."

Rose waited a few seconds until it was clear that she wouldn't be getting a reaction. "You have no idea who I am, do you?"

"Aside from one of the Doctor's previous companions, no I don't," Amy admitted. "Sorry."

Rose rolled her eyes. "Lovely, so I've become Sarah Jane. I should have known even though he _promised_ me that I wouldn't."

"To be fair, I did talk about you all the time to Martha and Donna," the Doctor protested as he approached them. "Martha actually started to twitch whenever she heard 'Rose' even if I wasn't the one who said it or we weren't actually referring to you. At some point, telling everyone about every past companion I've had would take too long."

"He did show me pictures," Amy reminded her. "And you were the only one with two."

"And I didn't even make the list!" Mickey complained. "I wish I could say that I was surprised."

"Yeah, but you said that you had to trick him into it," Rose pointed out.

"No I just _said_ that I was tricked so I could make Amy feel clever," the Doctor claimed.

"You're not fooling anyone," Rory told him.

"I certainly won't now that you've said _that_," the Doctor complained.

"So wait," Rose said slowly, eyeing the Doctor carefully. "Are you the Doctor? Have you regenerated again?"

The Doctor nodded. "Not by choice," he said, sounding almost amused. "But don't worry, that wasn't until after we stopped traveling together."

"I think some introductions are in order," Amy announced. "My name is Amy Pond and this is my husband, Rory."

"Sort of husband," Rory said innocently.

Amy rolled her eyes. "I admitted we were going out eventually."

"Yeah, after news of our engagement made the papers," Rory countered.

"It's nice to meet you," Rose said, shaking both of their hands.

"You're okay with your wife traveling with the Doctor?" Mickey marveled as he did the same. "Brave man."

"Traveling with the Doctor's actually been good for us," Rory revealed. "It's something that she really wanted to do and exploring the universe together has brought us much closer together."

"Even if you officially had the worst entering the TARDIS reaction ever," the Doctor sulked.

"You're the one who gave me two years to read up on scientific theories," Rory pointed out. "And twelve years before that to hear all about your amazing blue box with the swimming pool in the library from Amy."

"That always seemed like such a strange place to put it," Mickey mused. "All those books could get wet."

"Wait…what's this about meeting Amy fourteen years before taking her traveling with you?" Rose asked, sound appalled.

The Doctor coughed. "Well…I had just regenerated, you see. She and Rory are my first ever companions in this body. The regeneration was pretty violent, probably because I kept putting it off, and so my TARDIS crashed into Amy's shed. Did I ever apologize for that? Because I meant to."

Amy shrugged. "I don't remember. That's ancient history, though. Much like your promise to be back in five minutes."

"To be fair, the Doctor couldn't have properly fixed the crack without the Pandorica so he would have had to take you with him and if he _had_ taken you with him when you were seven and prone to getting chased about and had people try to kill you then he would have been too irresponsible for words," Rory pointed out.

"I probably would have ruined you for a normal life, too," the Doctor agreed.

"I don't _want_ a normal life, though," Amy argued.

"Hear hear," Rose cheered.

Mickey and Rory sighed in unison.

"You still should have come back in five minutes then told me you'd come back for me later when I was old enough to travel with you and not to tell everybody about you because then I'd spend my childhood in _therapy_," Amy insisted.

"I tried!" the Doctor claimed. "The TARDIS wouldn't listen."

"The TARDIS was just being responsible," Rory claimed.

"Just because she thinks you're the pretty one," the Doctor said, looking suddenly sullen. "Hey, where is your Doctor anyway?"

"He went to go get ice cream," Rose replied, glancing at her watch, "about two hours ago. I'm starting to get a little concerned, even if we haven't seen any signs of trouble."

"Not to mention that the ice cream's melted by now," Mickey added.

"Well, I wouldn't worry," the Doctor assured them. "I remember this now. I just got hopelessly lost. Give it another hour or so and I'll find my way back to you."

"How do you get lost on your way to buy ice cream?" Mickey asked incredulously. "There was a sign pointing which way to the vendor."

"Well, there was this very interesting set of footprints that I found and then there was this shell and…" the Doctor trailed off. "You know what? Why not let past me explain? I'm sure he'll remember it better than I do."

Amy snorted. "Nice."

"Hey, I do actually remember explaining this once," the Doctor claimed.

"You realize that we only have your word for that, right Doctor?" Rory asked reasonably.

The Doctor coughed and pretended not to hear him. "So, Mickey, Rose, how have you been?"

"Pretty good," Rose replied, smiling at him. "Mickey just started traveling with us."

"And you?" the Doctor asked, turning to Mickey who was staring at him in a state of mild shock. "What?"

"Sorry, it's just…you're _actually_ expressing an interest in me AND Rose in around, too," Mickey marveled.

"Forgive him, he's oblivious sometimes," Amy told him.

"I'm not _that_ bad!" the Doctor insisted.

"I agree," Rory said. "Or at least, he isn't with me. If he were I definitely wouldn't have kept traveling with him after he got me killed and erased form existence."

"That was an accident!" the Doctor said, rolling his eyes.

"It always is," Rory agreed. "And yet, it happened."

"Besides, you waited two thousand years for Amy to wake up and never once stopped guarding her!" the Doctor exclaimed. "How could I _not_ value your company after that?"

"So that's what a bloke has to do to get a little respect around here?" Mickey asked, groaning. "Perform impossible feats of willpower and endurance?"

"The Doctor didn't expect me to do it," Rory was quick to assure him. "He even wanted me to skip to the future with him. It's just…I couldn't leave Amy behind. She was mostly dead and it was all my fault."

"It really wasn't," Amy said seriously. "You were being controlled and even then you kept telling me to leave. I was the one who wouldn't listen."

"So you're saying it's _your_ fault?" Rory asked incredulously. "I'm not sure that's the healthiest attitude to take, Amy."

"Of course it wasn't my fault," Amy said dismissively. "It was that unholy alliance who programmed you to kill me."

"I'm guessing there's a story behind that," Rose said awkwardly.

The Doctor nodded. "There is," he assured her. "But you _really_ don't want to know."

"It's giving _us_ headaches trying to sort through it all and we were there," Amy confirmed.

"I guess I'll take your word for it," Rose replied.

"So listen, Rory was it?" Mickey asked. "How did you start traveling with the Doctor? You said something about him being after her, right?"

"He was very interested in my crack," Amy informed them.

Rose did a double take. "He…_what_? Doctor, she was a child!"

"It's not my fault!" the Doctor insisted. "And I did come back later when she was older."

"That doesn't make it any better!" Rose shouted.

"What Amy was _trying_ to say," Rory said, giving his wife a slightly irritated look, "was that there was a crack in her wall that turned out to be a crack in the universe and this really interested the Doctor so he wanted to keep her near him to observe."

"_And_ because she had proven herself both brave and resourceful and I found myself in need of someone like her to go traveling with," the Doctor added. "Why, what did Rose think I meant?"

"That," Rose immediately lied. "That was exactly what I thought. I was just, you know, concerned about children in the TARDIS. It's very dangerous."

"I got involved…well, I had heard all about the Doctor growing up because Amy told me the stories," Rory explained. "Then when he came back we had twenty minutes to save the Earth before aliens blew it up looking for a missing prisoner. I happened to have taken pictures of something they needed so I met the Doctor then. Two years later, Amy ran off with the Doctor _on the night before our wedding-_"

"That's cold," Mickey said, shaking his head. "Even for you."

"It was an accident!" the Doctor insisted. "I honestly thought it was later that day."

"I can believe that," Rose defended him. "I cannot tell you how many concerts he's had to try several times to take me to because we end up somewhere completely different and we have to save the day in completely inappropriate clothing."

"It was fun though, wasn't it?" the Doctor asked rhetorically.

Rose grinned at him. "Oh, you know it was."

"It gets worse," Rory said, clearly relishing telling the story. "My mates took me to a bar for my bachelor party and got a stripper to pop out of a cake – which I had no idea about in advance, I swear – and imagine my surprise and horror when instead of a stripper, I get the Doctor. And he tells me that Amy just tried to kiss him and I'm a lucky man because she's really talented."

"Yes, that's rude," Rose informed the Doctor. "In case you didn't know."

"It was adrenaline," Amy claimed. "I nearly died. A lot. I'm passed that now."

"So naturally, I decided to take Rory and Amy on a romantic getaway in the TARDIS and we ended up battling vampires in Venice," the Doctor informed them.

"Since when are vampires romantic?" Mickey asked him.

"Haven't you ever read Twilight?" Rose asked him.

"I have, actually," Mickey told her, "hence the question."

"Amy and Rory had fun and so he stayed with us for awhile until he tragically died," the Doctor concluded. "Never say I don't learn from my mistakes."

"This 'mistake' wouldn't be destroying my relationship with Rose, would it?" Mickey asked suspiciously.

"Or developing feelings for me?" Rose pressed.

"I just…Rory was a great bloke and I thought he and Amy would be very happy together," the Doctor said hurriedly. "And they were getting married in the morning!"

"He still thinks of me as seven," Amy explained. "If the bow tie wasn't such a turn-off, I might be offended."

"Bow ties are cool," the Doctor said stubbornly.

"So you keep telling us," Amy said, rolling her eyes. "Still, it's better than the fez."

"I don't know," Rory disagreed. "I almost like the fez."

Amy mock-glared at him. "Traitor."

"So the Doctor and Amy don't ignore you most of the time?" Mickey asked curiously.

Rory shook his head, surprised. "Oh no. They did put me on 'orienting people with the TARDIS' duties but I'd probably be better at it than they are anyway."

Mickey shook his head in clear jealousy.

"Oh, cheer up Mickey," the Doctor told him earnestly. "I attended your wedding and the last time I checked, you lived a very happy and fulfilling life. Exciting, too."

"I'm trying to decide if a life that the Doctor finds exciting is a good thing," Mickey murmured.

"Well, you clearly thought coming with us would be a good thing," Rose pointed out. "And the Doctor finds this exciting."

"Yeah, but I never intended for this to be forever," Mickey replied, "and the Doctor makes what I apparently do sound a bit more long-term."

"He also said you were happy so there's that," Rory pointed out.

Mickey nodded. "That's true…hey, you really are good at comforting people."

"I should be," Rory said dryly, "I'm a nurse."

"_And_ the last centurion," Amy added proudly.

Rose's eyes bulged. "_Really_? I thought that was just a myth."

"I had to protect her," Rory said simply, not looking at them.

"Speaking of long-term…" Rose trailed off. "I'm really not sure how to ask this without sounding entitled or presumptuous but I'd really like to know."

"Just ask, Rose," the Doctor invited gently.

"Alright. Why aren't I traveling with you anymore? You promised me that you wouldn't just abandon me like you did with Sarah Jane and I can't see myself choosing to leave," Rose said, turning questioning eyes to him.

"Ultimately…you did choose to leave," the Doctor said slowly. He decided it was best not to mention that she had only very reluctantly agreed to stay in that parallel universe with his clone after being trapped there years earlier. "Although that choice was largely governed by circumstances."

"Even if you hadn't left, it shouldn't be so shocking to see a future version of him that wasn't with you," Rory said reasonably. "After all, he's been around for nearly a millennium and he's going to just keep on living. Humans have a much more limited lifespan."

"I hadn't thought of that," Rose admitted. "So, is there anyone else in your life? Anyone…_special_? I know Amy isn't but…"

"No," the Doctor said.

"Yes," Amy said at exactly the same time.

"You don't know that," the Doctor argued.

"She is _so_ your wife," Amy insisted.

"There's a woman time traveler who keeps meeting the Doctor out of order and we don't know who she is yet," Rory explained. "Amy is convinced that they're together in the future."

"She keeps calling him sweetie and knows everything about him," Amy pointed out.

"That's all circumstantial!" the Doctor said loudly, covering his ears.

"He's in denial," Amy explained unnecessarily.

Rose smiled sadly at him. "Well…that's good, I guess. I don't want my time with him to end but try as I might I just can't run with the Doctor forever. I only have a century at most to live and he's already lived nine times that long. I wouldn't want him to be alone forever just because I'm gone."

The Doctor took his hands from his ears. "Thank you for that. It's good to know that you understand."

Rose's smile became a bit more cheerful. "That's why you picked me in the first place?"

"Actually, I picked you because you were the first person I'd met with any promise since the Time War," the Doctor corrected her.

"Doctor!" Rose cried in faux-outrage as she whacked him lightly on the shoulder.

"But," the Doctor allowed, smiling himself, "it is why I kept you."

"That's better," Rose said, pleased.

"Rose! Bad news about the ice cream!" the Tenth Doctor's voice called out suddenly, sounding reasonably far away.

"See, I might as well not even be here!" Mickey complained.

"Never," the Doctor assured him. "It was good to have you along and I am sorry if I ever made you feel otherwise."

"Why can't we travel with him?" Mickey asked, half-serious.

"So…I guess this is goodbye," Rose said awkwardly.

The Doctor nodded. "I guess it is." Then he surprised Rose and – especially – Mickey by throwing his arms around them. "It was good to see you again. Now we really do have to be going."

Amy and Rory just had time to say their goodbyes before they were pulled into the TARDIS by an anxious Doctor.

"We can come back next week," the Doctor promised. "Can't risk running into myself."

"Are you alright, Doctor?" Rory asked, concerned. "It sounded like she meant a lot to you."

The Doctor nodded. "I am, yes. That's the nice thing about regenerations. You can't mourn what you've lost forever and there's nothing quite like it to help you move on."

"And also, our incredible awesomeness left you with no room for sadness," Amy added.

The Doctor grinned at that. "Absolutely. You Ponds are the best."

Rory sighed. "Maybe I should just accept it…"

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